One of Inle Lake's famous leg-rowers. photo by Gena Reisner.

Seeing the Highlights of Burma

By Gena Reisner

Rangoon, November 1999

I'm standing barefoot in the temple complex of Shwedagon, Burma's most mesmerizing sight. And I'm going through film at a great rate, because -- in a lifetime of exotic travel -- I've never seen anything like this. All around me are astonishing pagodas in different shapes -- some edged in gold, some covered in glittering mirror mosaic -- and at the center, a magnificent stupa covered in gold and tipped with diamonds.

Everywhere, Burmese are worshipping or strolling gracefully by; the air is scented with incense. It's a dazzling scene, and one worth savoring: my traveling companion, Julie, and I vow to return every day that we're in Rangoon.

After all, Burma (officially called Myanmar) has been at the top of our travel wish lists for years -- and we're determined to soak it all in. Over the next sixteen days we'll see most of the highlights of the country -- starting in the capital, Rangoon (now called Yangon), an hour's flight from Bangkok, and continuing on to Pagan (Bagan), a boat trip along the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) River, Mandalay, Inle Lake, Pindaya and Golden Rock.

I love the old British names (and use them here) because they evoke the exotic, faraway country that I've dreamed of forever; if you're looking on a map or an airline schedule, look for the new official names.

Travel in Burma is easy and hassle-free --as long as you use the services of a good tour operator. We used Abercrombie & Kent, which provided a guide, car and driver for the two of us throughout the trip. Such an arrangement, called an "FIT" by travel agents, is a common way to travel in Burma

Burmese creating a sequin tapestry in Mandalay, with thanaka, traditional make-up, on their faces. photo by Gena Reisner. click image to enlarge this photo.

(and many other places in Asia) and is offered by most tour operators; it allows a lot of flexibility, lets you stop wherever you want, and can be nearly as well-priced as a group tour. For the independent traveler, it's a way to have your cake and eat it too. There's also good budget travel in Burma, as well as in-between choices.

On our second morning, we discover what will turn out to be our other favorite spot in Rangoon -- the huge Scott Market (Bogyoke Aung San Market). Immediately, we're shopping madly: Burmese handicrafts are unique and the prices are all bargains. Most fascinating are the mysterious items at the stalls where the Burmese are shopping: my favorite is the tiny booth glittering with green foil headdresses, which -- it turns out -- are used as temple offerings.

Hours later, we're dragging our purchases out the door, giddy with success. Back at the hotel, we spread out our loot for a second look: sequin tapestries and pillowcases, gilded marionettes, wood carvings, a painting, a blouse in local style and some local skirts (the ubiquitous longyi, worn by both men and women). We congratulate ourselves on choosing Traders Hotel (part of the excellent Shangri-La chain), which is just across the street from the market.

Flying to Pagan

Then it's time to fly to Pagan -- a little-known archaeological gem that dates from around the turn of the last millennium (850 - 1300). We're astounded by what we see here: over two thousand pagodas crowd an arid plain of only 42 square kilometers. We spend the day exploring the temples, barefoot over the rough stones -- shoes must be removed in all Burmese temples, even those without floors! We're in an air-conditioned car, but lots of tourists are using the ubiquitous horse-and-buggies and some are on bikes. Near sunset, our guide takes us to one of the sunset temples. I gingerly climb the steep narrow steps to the top, along with hordes of tourists; my reward is a vista of ancient temples turning rosy in the sunset.

Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. photo by Gena Reisner. click to enlarge this photo.

The next day we board the Road to Mandalay, Orient-Express' sleek river cruiser. Soon we're sailing slowly up the Irrawaddy River to Mandalay, relaxing on deck and watching life along the river.

Through my binoculars I can see a way of life that can't have changed much since Rudyard Kipling wrote about this trip nearly a century ago: yoked bullocks plowing fields, women bathing and doing their laundry, boatmen poling hand-hewn canoes, a raft of teak logs floating down from northern Burma.

A second luxury boat, the Pandaw, also plies this route. For budget travelers, there's a cheap alternative for seeing life along the river: a daily tourist boat between Pagan and Mandalay makes the trip in about eight hours.

After seeing the wonderful main sights of Mandalay (carved teak monastery, dazzling main temple, view from Mandalay Hill), we ask to go to the food market to get a glimpse of real life. Here we're the only tourists. We drink fresh coconut milk and stop our guide at every pile of vegetables and fruit, quizzing her on what everything is.

The next day we're on the move again, flying to Heho Airport, a strange place where tour guides aren't allowed to meet their travelers. We struggle out of the terminal building, lugging the loot we've acquired in Pagan (lacquerware) and Mandalay (more sequined pillows), and find our car, driver and guide. We go immediately to the five-day market in Heho, where men in turbans and indigo skirts haggle for buffalo. Over the next three days, we're lucky enough to catch four of the five-day markets -- so-called because they're held every five days rather than once a week.

And then we're off over the mountains to Inle Lake, where people live in stilt houses and cultivate floating gardens. Soon we're whizzing across the lake's surface in a long-tail boat (similar to the ones in Bangkok), and once again, madly snapping pictures. In the golden sunset light, one of Inle's famous leg-rowers is gliding by with balletic grace, one leg wrapped around his oar, leaving both hands free to pull in his fishing net.

Golden Rock, Burma.

After a whole day touring the lake -- the highlight, a monastery where the abbot has taught his cats to jump through hoops -- we're on the road again. It's a long trip back over the mountains to Pindaya, a mammoth cave filled with Buddha images. But the journey is sensational: we happen upon two festival processions, and jump out of the car to follow each one. At the end of the day, we stop by the side of the road to watch farmers drive their bullock carts home in the setting sun, while the young kids ride the water buffalo.

The next day we're back in Rangoon, doing our laundry in Trader Hotel's guest laundromat (why doesn't every hotel have one of these?) and visiting Shwedagon one last time.

After seeing Julie off, I stay a few more days to visit Golden Rock, a gilded boulder that balances mysteriously on the edge of a cliff -- balancing on a hair of the Buddha, assert the Burmese, who flock there on pilgrimage.

Getting there isn't easy: it's a bone-jarring truck ride up a twisty mountain road just to get to the start of the trek, then a precipitous climb up a steep track to the top. After just one turn in the road, I'm delighted to scramble onto a litter hauled by four men and be carried, in grand style, up the mountain.

The scene on the mountain top is worth the rough trip: in the clear high air, crowds of the faithful light candles and incense, ring gongs, and press thin squares of gold onto the rock, which glows with the intensity of real gold. Barefoot in a Burmese holy place one last time, I wander the broad marble plaza and drink in the scene as deeply as I can. It's the perfect place to end my Burma adventure.

*********************

Gena Reisner’s trip took place in 1999, and this article was published with the launch of GoNomad in 2000.





For more recent GoNomad articles on Myanmar, see:

Buddhism in Burma

Sonja Stark in Burma

Women travel writers perspectives of Burma

Myanmar: A Time Warp

Pagodas in Myanmar

Practical information for visting Burma

WHERE

Burma is in Southeast Asia, bordered by Thailand, Laos, China, India and Bangladesh.

GETTING THERE

Fly to Bangkok and connect to a flight into Rangoon (Yangon). If you're using a tour operator, ask about their contract rates for your Bangkok flight; I got a better price through Abercrombie & Kent than I could find on the internet, with more flexible terms.

Spice seller in Burma.

GETTING AROUND

If you've booked a tour, all transport will be provided for you -- including the use of the car and driver for the evening if you're going out to dinner. If you're on your own, there are taxis in Rangoon and Mandalay, and horse and buggies in Pagan. Local minibuses offer a rough ride, with excess passengers hanging off the back. It's possible to travel by train, but more comfortable to travel by air.

ATTRACTIONS

Rangoon: temple complex of Shwedagon; Scott's Market; reclining Buddha.

Pagan: 2000 ancient pagodas; skip the disappointing trip to Mount Popa.

Mandalay: carved teak monastery; the "world's largest book"; a long teak foot-bridge crowded with local life; main temple; main market.

Inle Lake area: Inle Lake; Pindaya Cave (containing thousands of Buddha images); local 5-day markets frequented by tribal people in distinctive dress; trekking out of Pindaya.

Monks relax on the U-Bein Bridge, an old wooden foot bridge near Mandalay. Click to enlarge this photo.

Golden Rock (Mt. Kyaikityo) trip: Bago (Burma's largest reclining Buddha); Golden Rock.

LODGINGS AND EATS

Road to Mandalay Cruise
Orient-Express Reservations Office at 800-524-2420 (orient-expresstrains.com)

Pandaw Cruise
pandaw.com; see gonomad’s lodging picks for Burma

Rangoon
Traders Hotel
#223 Sule Pagoda Road
G.P.O. Box 888
Yangon, Myanmar
Tel: (95-1) 242828
Fax: (95-1) 242800
Email: thyn@shangri-la.com
In US, contact Shangri-La at 800-942-5050 (Shangri-La.com).

The modern Traders Hotel is in the center of town; it's an excellent Shangri-La hotel with good rooms, affordable and good food, and (my favorite feature) guest laundromats.

TOURING

Even doggedly independent travelers tend to book tour guides at each location. Lonely Planet's "Myanmar (Burma)" is the Bible for traveling on your own in Burma (www.lonelyplanet.com).

I found that booking an FIT allowed me to travel independently and stop wherever I wanted, without having to spend time on the hassle of making arrangements. Following are some good tour operators offering Burma trips:

Floating fruit vendor near stilt houses.

-Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) (abercrombiekent.com). We booked our trip with A&K and they did a superb job.
-Absolute Travel (absoluteasia.com).
-Asia Transpacific Journeys (southeastasia.com).
-Mountain Travel Sobek (mtsobek.com)
-Geographic Expeditions (geoex.com)
-Asia Voyages (asiavoyages.com)

VISA

For Visa requirements, see the Myanmar government website for US: www.mewashingtondc.com

WHEN TO TRAVEL

It's best to travel during the dry season, November through February.

PACKING TIPS

Modest dress is expected -- no shorts or skimpy tops. Wear shoes that are easy to take off, since you must walk barefoot through every temple, including those in Pagan. If you're not on a tour, bring along lots of wet towelettes for your feet (or buy them in the market). Pack a flashlight and binoculars.

Giant buddha near Bago, Burma.

HEALTH

The usual Southeast Asia health precautions apply, including the need for a malaria prophylactic. See www.cdc.gov/travel. Do not drink or brush your teeth with the water; cheap, clean bottled water is available everywhere and is generally supplied in hotel rooms. Eat carefully, and bring along medicine to treat digestive upsets.

GOVERNMENT/SECURITY

There are no warnings or watches for Burma, which is considered a safe place to travel. For more information on the political situation in Burma, see the US State Department Consular Sheet at: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1077.html.

SHOPPING

Shopping is fabulous and cheap. Bargaining is customary. Buy lacquerware in Pagan, sequin tapestries in Mandalay, local crafts like hand-woven shoulder bags at the 5-day markets in the Inle Lake region. Rubies are plentiful and inexpensive; buy them at licensed stores only. You can buy cheap bags in the market to carry home your loot.

MONEY

Travel with enough cash. Traveler’s checks and credit cards are not accepted anywhere, and a few ATM machines are just coming into existence today, in 2011. This makes a prepaid tour very convenient. US dollars are readily accepted for handicrafts and tips; take along lots of $1's, $5's, $10's and $20's, all in crisp new bills.

RESOURCES Myanmar government website myanmar.com asiatour.comasiatravel.com Embassy of the Union of Myanmar 2300 S Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 Tel: 202-332-9044/6 Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the U.N. 10 East 77th St. New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: 212-535-1311